Journalism blog

Minister Vows Power For The Daintree

The globally renowned rainforest and pristine waterways of the Daintree in far north Queensland attract hundreds of thousands of tourists each year, but it comes as a surprise to most that locals must burn millions of litres of diesel each year to generate electricity.

More than 800 residents in the Daintree Rainforest World Heritage area have been campaigning for upwards of 30 years to change that, arguing they needed to be connected to an electricity network.

Until the former Newman government changed the laws in 2012, building power infrastructure in the World Heritage site between the Daintree River and Wujal Wujal had been outlawed.

Over the years since, residents have grown increasingly frustrated by a lack of action to bring them onto the grid.